Housing...Getting Closer to a Decision

We got up bright and early this morning to view two more rental properties. This time our translator was Luca, who took us out on our first field-trip to view the government-leased house. Our first stop was in Marola, and the home was  listed on the Army's housing website as an apartment. In reality, it was a duplex that felt a lot more like a house. It was pretty darn huge, too. (That's what she said...) It was built in 1981 and is on the corner of a dead-end street. 3-for-3 on the dead ends so far, but I like that they have less traffic and are generally a little quieter. From the street it looked well-maintained, with a tidy wrap-around yard. It had a little concrete wall surrounding it, with a pedestrian gate as well as a vehicle gate. We walked into the foyer and met the landlord, who had been puttering around upstairs, probably opening windows. Mario, I think his name was. Luca asked where we should start, and gestured inwards toward the ground floor, but the landlord ushered us upstairs, "to the living apartments." I thought maybe it was a shared foyer with a neighbor or something, but it turns out the whole ground floor was included. Anyway. Upstairs had a small-ish kitchen, living area, and three bedrooms. The master would be big enough for our enormous American-sized furniture, but we noticed the bathrooms were pretty small with some rinky-looking PVC; we learned it also has a septic tank instead of being connected to the city sewage system. There was a decent balcony upstairs, too. All of the doors and windows have pull-down screens and most had roll-down shutters as well, and there were two little a/cs in the upstairs area. Downstairs was a den/bonus room with a fireplace, laundry, two storage areas, and a double-garage. The garage doors were very narrow though and not automated; I don't know if Tony's Accord could even fit in there. Maybe if we put the side mirrors in. I liked this place. It was bigger than we expected, the layout was nice, and I liked the location. It's only about a block to the bus line which goes right past the main base (which is not where Tony will be working, but is where the commissary and Post Office are located) and into Vicenza proper.

The second place was in Torri di Quartesolo, which is basically one town over from Marola, and a little larger. It was also a duplex, but also felt like a house. It fronted one street and the attached duplex fronted the street behind us, instead of a side-by-side layout. When we pulled up, the landlord (Gino, I think?) was just putting the lawnmower back into his car. The yard wasn't in the best shape, but it had a lot of potential to be very nice. We could tell there was some work going on inside, but we couldn't tell what...turns out the whole place was basically getting upgraded! There were no light fixtures yet, but there were plenty of windows so we could see what was happening. The heating system was upgraded and split into two zones with two thermostats, hot water heater was new, and all the plumbing fixtures were so new they haven't even been installed yet! The kitchen was empty as well, so it'll need cabinets and whatnot. We learned housing provides a dishwasher, stove/oven, and refrigerator, so those would be delivered after we sign the rental agreement. Usually Italian renters bring those things with them. (Side note: In Italy, lease terms are for 4 years, and if you extend, you extend another 4 years.) This one had two different storage closets as well as an outside sort of attached storage area, too. Not like a shed, but like a separate little room only accessible from the outside. There were sliding doors that opened onto a little patio, and next to that was a covered carport. There were lights outside along the carport area, with an automated gate. The landlord told Luca he could change to have them automated via sensor, if we wanted. No a/c, but the landlord said there were two prior to the renovation and that could be negotiated as part of the rental agreement if we wanted. As with the other place we saw today, all the bedrooms were upstairs, though the kitchen, dining, and living areas were downstairs. The layout was a little strange to me though. It was also in a fairly quiet location, and the landlord pointed out Americans living across the street; Luca took us one street over and showed us a row of government-leased properties, as well. The street wasn't a dead-end, so we broke our streak, but it was basically a small loop so there wouldn't be any through-traffic anyway. It felt a little more cramped to me, with neighbors on either side. I think it is also on or close to the main bus line, but I'm not 100% sure. The landlord told Luca the place needed about 10 days before it would be fully ready for us; that's not such a big deal to us as the lease negotiations and utilities set-up takes roughly a week anyway.

So, two more good options! Basically, charmingly-situated older place with nice layout & good storage vs. upgraded, more efficient model.  Both places are on the east side of Vicenza, and either would probably work out to a 20-25 minute commute for Tony. We still have a few more places we are interested in, but only have one more allowable excursion with a translator. After that, we're on our own; the housing office will help us set up appointments with landlords, but transportation and translation are not provided. We are close to a decision, but will sleep on it tonight before we take any action.